Field
This disclosure relates to sorting items. In particular, features for dividing stacks of items with industrial sorting systems are disclosed.
Description of the Related Art
In many industrial concerns, processing large quantities of items is crucial. For example, many items must be received and handled for sorting, distribution, or are otherwise processed with various processing equipment. Some operations handle thousands or millions of items daily.
As an example, mail delivery operations may involve receiving, unloading, transporting and loading thousands of pieces of mail daily into trays for further processing and delivery. The high volume of mail items means more time must be spent on these and other processes.
This is merely one example of an industrial concern that sorts and receives large quantities of items. Others may include, but are not limited to, retail concerns with large inventories and high daily sales, high volume component manufacturers such as consumer goods, and importing concerns with high volume imports needing sorting and receiving daily.
In these and other contexts, sorting systems and processes may produce sorted collections of items in various collection areas. However, the sorted collections of items must be removed from the collection areas so further sorting processes may make use of the same collection areas. This and other problems with current approaches lead to processing inefficiencies with each sorted collection of items that in aggregate add up to significant losses of time over the course of a day or year.
There is therefore a need for improved systems, devices and methods that allow for more efficient and convenient processing of large volumes of items.